Enlightened Reviews

This list is hard because it brings back a lot of awful memories, but I'm writing it because I don't want another person to experience what I did. Both bosses - the company owners - were completely inappropriate. What do I mean by this? One time I was washing my dishes from lunch at the end of a very long day, which is normal and expected, and suddenly I heard a voice that said "Would your husband be mad if he knew you could feel me?" He came up from behind me, put his arms around my waist and saddled his private parts against mine. You might ask why I tolerated this? I didn't, but at the time I was very much dependent on that job and salary, and I was afraid to go to HR for fear that retaliation would be losing my job. There were other less obvious sexual harassment, such as very long hugs, shoulder rubs, winking at me and just plain flirting. Aside from this, you were routinely asked to handle so much work that you were often there past midnight on a daily basis. I became very familiar with the ins and outs of government contracting because I was forced to teach it to myself in order to keep up, but at what cost? To this day, it remains the worst professional experience of my life.

As someone who has works on the inside of this company and has been exposed to the wonders that are Corporate leadership for 18 months plus, I would like to point out the fact that a majority of the positive responses on here are "plants." As a negative review is posted, notice that within a few days a few positive ones will miraculously appear. Meaning, this is Corporate's way of dealing with bad press and negative publicity in an attempt to spin perception positively. This company is all about its outward image and less concerned about the internal one among its employees. I am not insinuating that the company has paid, or offered an incentive for posting positive reviews, but know there are people working there that have done this. This has been confirmed. The only close to "HONEST" reviews are the ones that identify the negativity. Also notice the company's response to just the negative reviews, seems revealing they would launch into damage control only when being criticized. This company is run on motivational memes and videos. But the meaning and intent, while relative, is significantly lost and never truly followed after viewing/reading it once. There is no consistency in leadership. The CEO expects things to go a certain way, but then is quick to contradict his previous guidance, IF he is available to give any guidance. If you rub the CEO the wrong way or go against him, he will ignore your attempts to talk to you, and make you feel completely inferior as a form of punishment (to which I have personally witnessed this happen). He prides himself on his public image, and places that as his utmost priority. He is your typical narcissist and hides from confrontation (outside the company). He would rather take a back seat (offering little to no guidance), which allows things to progressively get worse, and then swoop in to present himself as a savior without actually solving the problem, because he doesn't truly understand the problem. The company has no culture, in fact the CEO launched 2 individual Culture committee campaigns within the last 18 months and both identified the same problem, the CEO. The results were quickly dismissed because the CEO refuses acknowledge (or listen) to where the problem really lies. Culture begins with leadership at the top. If you cannot acknowledge the fact that you are not doing your part to hold up your end, then YOU need to change. The CEO is incapable of changing because he is incapable of acknowledging there is a problem. If you are not willing to be a 'yes' man and do what the CEO instructs, you will not fit in here. He does not take kindly to people questioning/challenging his leadership or decisions (or advising for that matter). Its his way or the high way, no matter the cost. Sure he is involved in all kinds of DC Government volunteer roles, he has been nominated/received this award or that award (which are self purchased by the way), and is an upstanding guy in the eye of the community (by his own proclamation). Volunteering and award recognition does not make a good leader. Stop with the qualifying words and motivational speeches, and LEAD BY ACTIONS and SET THE EXAMPLE. Any one who walks around congratulating themselves, constantly patting themselves on the back for being the smartest person in the room, probably has an ego problem which will ultimately block their ability to grow. If you are the smartest person in the room, you have a serious problem. The entire headquarters office is in disarray, and is barely functional, that is to say the office is 100% reactive to a situation as opposed to being proactively engaged (Ruled number 1 of the coveted 7 Habits philosophy which is preached but not followed here). They are constantly running through people in key, critical positions that should not experience a high level of turnover (specifically HR, Comptroller, Recruiting). The recruiting department is currently outsourced which means there is a constant delay and struggle in identifying qualified people for a contract in a quick and efficient manner. The program management office is non-existent, so no real processes or procedures have been clearly defined. PM's are often asked to work issues that require the attention of another department, usually Finance or HR, which would be fine if they had a clue as to what is going on, which they do not. To make matters worse, the CEO does not place his full faith and confidence in his PM Management team (micromanages everything) nor his senior leaders, which greatly affects the effectiveness of the actual contract management staff and performance of the company as a whole. In fact, the CEO is the weakest link in this realm. He portrays himself as all knowing of everything and rarely seeks the guidance of his Managers on anything. It is a laughable situation at best. The company is always under cutting positions in terms of salary. Current employees are offered no type of incentive for raises or any type of bonuses. They consistently nickle and dime their contracts trying to place themselves in a winning situation or pursuing personal agendas, and a majority of the time leave their employees with no room for a salary increase. In the event you are eligible for an increase, you have to go through a very difficult and unorganized process of making that request (which is not clearly defined for their employees). They are all about the bottom dollar and turning a profit, which is normal for a company, but these guys are willing to sacrifice good hard working employees to save a dollar or two. Moving up the corporate ladder is next to impossible because the company has no organizational chart to indicate where you fit into the "Company Model." Once you are on a contract, there is nothing else...when your contract ends, you are done. I still have no idea what this company does or produces. There is no strategic outlook or forward thinking mindset, EVERYTHING is reactive. I am sure there will be a corporate response addressing these issues, and justifying itself or contradicting everything that was said above, no doubt citing all kinds of recognition's and awards as well as how active they are in the community. As I read through previous negative comments about this company, I can't help but agree with a majority of them, some are 100% accurate. It is really disheartening to be a part of an organization that is incapable of making any significant progress. Do yourself a favor and walk away from this one and keep looking for a job. You will be miserable and regret your decision within 6 months.